Nov. 18 - According to Argentine trade representatives, the signing of an FTAA accord is not a life-or-death issue for the country.
"We are negotiating seven trade agreements right now, and the FTAA is not the most important one," said Argentine Secretary of Trade Martin Redrado on Monday in an interview with the Argentine daily Clarin.
"We prefer a bilateral stance. That way we can best gauge what we concede and what we get from North America," said Redrado, referring to Argentina's decision to negotiate with the United States as part of the Mercosur trading bloc together with Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil.
Labor unions throughout the Americas mourned the death of Luis Anderson, who since the early '80s headed the hemispheric-wide Regional Organization of Workers, known for its Spanish acronym as ORIT.
'His death is an irreparable loss for democracy and the workers' movements worldwide," said ORIT spokesman Ernesto Marval. Anderson was scheduled to speak at the FTAA negotiations this week but died Saturday from heart complications.
According to Venezuela's daily El Universal, the country's business groups are upset by President Hugo Chavez's unwillingness to support the signing of a Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement.
Business groups throughout the country are frustrated by what they say is Chavez's refusal to consider trade as a development tool and labeled the country's leader as "a guerrilla in the presidential palace," said Carlos Bardasano, president of Venevision Continental. Business people have been Chavez's most bitter opponents throughout his presidency.
Major Mexican newspapers have been keeping a close tab on Miami's security measures during the FTAA protests.
A headline in Mexico's daily Reforma last week read U.S. looks to shut up anti-FTAA protests, and Monday in Mexico's La Jornada a headline read The protests have just begun and there are already arrests.
The reports describe in great detail the restrictions imposed by Miami authorities such as the prohibition of glass bottles, bricks, golf balls and water balloons as well as the legal services available to protesters who are arrested.
According to La Jornada, "the extravagant hotel was noticeably surrounded by police on foot, backed up by dogs, or police on horses, motorcycles, bicycles, cars, helicopters and boats."
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